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Pope Francis

So this week I started working on a composition piece centred around His Holiness Pope Francis. I believe that this man - regardless of anyone's faith (and I don't believe that it should offend anyone's faith) is a very good man. He speaks and acts with compassion towards the poor, towards the vulnerable, the sick and the disabled. He prioritises the need to lead by example and provide for those in need. He has shunned a great deal of the ceremonial pomp and circumstance around his role. I think the way that he conducts himself, and the advice that he gives is compatible with the best practise spoken of in all world religions and the major cultural movements of compassionate humanism.

For this reason I wanted to do a portrait of him, but I really wanted to capture the kindness, the softness and the love that seems to be projected from him when he appears in public.

I'm going to show you the work, piece by piece, as I constructed it, and hopefully that will also give you something thta explains my technique and how digital art works (as best as I understand it!). This isn't to say that I'm any kind of artistic teacher or role model of course.

I am entirely self taught - both in term of art and in terms of using the computer to illustrate too.

So I began the piece by sketching out a drawing of Pope Francis, but thinking about his religious context I wanted to invoke a little of the traditional spirit of the Italian renaissance, and bring in some cherubin.

To do this I looked towards Michelangelo (of course) and the Sistine chapel. This was my original sketch:

So the sketch above show the Pope with the two cherubin stolen borrowed from the Sistine Chapel. It also left me with a good deal of blank space there at the back and I needed to find a use for that. I decided it would be an idea to add a Virgin Mary and a Christ portrait to the composition. So I sketched them in on a different level of the image:

Above shows the Virgin Mary and below shows my Christ portrait also.

So now I was pretty satisfied with my sketch overall, and I turned my attention to adding the colour. I focused on the face of the Pope to begin with and worked outward from there because I wanted it to be the dominant part of the work. I used an airbrush technique, varying the size of the spray when I need dark defining lines.

Below shows me then moving on to the left Cherub...

And then the right. Feeling reasonably satisfied with the foreground of the image I then muted these layers of the picture, to allow myself to focuse on the sketches in the background.

So below you can see the colour that I've added to the face of the Virgin Mary.

 And likewise to the face of Christ.

You can see when we bring the foreground layers back into the that you don't need the full illustration of either of the figures in the background because of the over lap.

Happy that I've illustrated my characters, and that they've got the colouring that I'm reasonably happy with, I've then gone to the absolute background of the image again. This time to dress it with colour - including halo effects for Jesus and Mary.

The last thing that I do on any image is to sign a layer at the foreground that sits over the top of teh whole piece. This way, in future, if anyone wanted a copy, but didn't like the signature, it would be possible to provide it without.

On and off this is the work of two evenings, but I'm quite happy with the outcome.

I have created this image, drawing and illustrating by hand on an Apple iMac computer, with Autodesk Sketchbook (which I think is very good value as software goes), and a Wacom Intuous Pen Tablet (small) with stylus.

The Wacom can take some getting used to because you have to get used to drawing and looking up at the monitor - not what you're actually drawing on. That can feel odd to begin with. If you've got the cash you can buy a tablet with a digital screen that you draw straight on. They're not cheap though!

I did create a few other things this week, but I thought it would be more interesting to deconstruct this piece rather than just show another gallery of various images!

My scribbles of the week

This week I've been mostly experiencing political anger.

I'm sure that, in light of all the things that have been unfolding, I am not, by any means alone. International terrorism is a disgusting, repulsive thing. Seeing our politicians posture and pretend to be strong (by threatening and killing the innocent) is an insult.

Watching the same people hide their personal and politcial failings behind the same tragic circumstances is awful. There is (apologies for dippinging into a political soap box moment) no amount of what happened in Paris that will make me believe that flattening innocent people with explosive annihilation in Syria is an appropriate response to anything at all.

Here is what I produced this week:

So I started with that over privileged moron, David Cameron. I'm tired of the lying and the backroom deals. I have a colleague at work who said to me weakly (the day after the general election) 'He's a good honest man. He'll never harm the NHS, he had a disabled son'. AGH! These people do exist. That swollow the lies. That judge him upon what comes out of his mouth, rather than what he chooses to do.

In drawing Cameron I approached it quite experimentally. Instead of constructing a background sketch initially, I just built up a series of coloured strokes.

The next image is of the Quisling Nick Clegg, who stood for 'No more broken promises' before the general election, and then broke every significant promise in order to have five years as deputy prime-minister. Never before has anyone so brazenly taken a bung in public view.

I created his image in the samw way as Cameron (they are cut from the same cloth afterall).

Of course this took me back to Thatcher - who is more alive in British politics today than she has been since she slid into her offical acknowledgement of senile dementia, and of course her corporeal non-existence. We were quite wrong to celebrate her passing because it meant nothing, her icy dispassionate amoral hand is upon as many decisions now as it ever has been. 

She opened the door for her sociopathic party to do exactly what they like in sponsorship of self indulgement and self aggrandisement, without a flinch of uncertainty towards decency, compassion, or duty of care.

I created her image quite differently - layering colours over an overall general shape of her evil face.
 

Which takes us of course to Tony Blair. The greatest political cuckoo in the nest of all. His steady seduction of the worker's party - the massaging away of any ideological ties - the hypnosis of a nation into illegal wars and imprudent financial deregulation - have left the political left in a nightmarish identity crisis. All we seem to have are those who want an unquestionable entitlement to rule, and anyone who does question becomes a radical left wing lunatic.

I approached Blair as I approached Thatcher.
 

So this depressive downward political spiral took me to Nelson Mandela. Perhaps the only icon of recent political reconciliation and rebirth. Perhaps it's not too late for his ghost to have a hand upon our affairs? 

The battle of two ghosts - Thatcher and the man who she branded with the infamous comment 'that grubby little terrorist'.

If there is anyone out there to receive my prayer, please let the ghost of Mandela prevail in our political psyche.

Jonas Kunickas

This is the first time that I've featured an artists that I haven't met through Twitter. The fact is that I just have to write something about Jonas Kunickas.

I found out about this artist through 'Tons of Paintings':

Jonas Kunickas is a figurative artist in oils (natural comparisons might be drawn to Andre Kohn as a result - but his style is very different). He is a Lithuanian artist based in Kaunas:

His artist is charged with energy and I love it. Look as these portraits:

I love the unorthodox use of colour that inflames the picture and makes it jump out - with a sense of animation almost, and also with texture and depth.

This tremendous family portrait (including animals) has so much going on. I love the dog on the left particularly. Every individual image is worthy of congratulations - it seems to convey so much and succeeds in shaking off any sense of formality. As with the individual portraits above there is tremendous warmth.

The final two pictures offer a contrast. A juvenile girl drinking tea, and a semi nude. I like the way that this shows the vibrancy of the artist's diversity. It works equally well with both images. The evers so slightly unwilling nature of the young girl, with a hint of incredulity (and possibly even precociousness) in her eyes is given a delightful sense of life.

The voluptuous soft curves of the mature female form, cast with shadows and sheets, works equally well. I imagine that she's staring into the flames of a fire. The blues also hint at the suggest of an apparition of the mind - is this deliberate?

It's a tremendous shame that Jonas Kunickas isn't on twitter - I'd love to ask him questions about his style.

Instead of himself, I'd recommend @TonsofPaintings - who I'm grateful to for helping me to discover him in the first place.

Andre Kohn

My next pick for this week is Mr Andre Kohn. He has an impressionistic/figurative style in oils, he's a Russian artist, and he was formally tutored at the University of Moscow. 

Excitingly, Andre Kohn defected with his family to the US (his father was a Russian army officer) and so his style met with modern America. His home is now in Arizona, albeit, he is a traveller and crosses back to Europe regularly to develop his style and to exhibit his work.

As with most of my reviews, you can find the artist on Twitter:

Suprisingly Andre has only 175 followers (this is quite inconceivable really) on twitter and I can only presume that his account must be quite new.

His own website can be found here

The first thing that struck me about Andre's work was his presentation of elegant female figures:

His presnetation of stylish confident female figures, adorned with hats and umbrellas, usually with bold crimson red and high heels is stunning.

I can only suggest that women would look at such figures and fantasise about being in such pictures, and men can never get tired of looking at such beauty.

I think it's very clever that the images have their faces shrouded. It gives room for the extra bit of fantasy and day-dream. These images aren't aged.

I also really enjoy the way that this artist uses water and rain. The reflective nature of a wet street is highly alluring - and gives of a shimmering quality.

The high quality of Andre's website allows you to have a really close look at his work:

 

This is close up on the hat of the lady in the image on the far right of the four shown above. I love the texture. And by the way, these images are large - this piece 'With a Character' is 24" x 24" and the print sells for $800.

The image above expresses causal and cool relaxation - while embodying the same desirable character with the same shrouded facial features.

 

There's an obvious comparison with this figure (right) however this lady appears far more unaware that she is being watched (somehow). Perhaps the slipped shoulder strap and the tied up hair.



Below we have a ballerina figure - perhaps a reference to the Russian arts of Andre's background. Again, the figure is posed with her back to the artist but is a wonderful portrayal of elegance - with delicate shoulders and a slender back. I particularly like the way that the artists has used the light here. The side of the subject's face is a bright red colour (in fact) but this simply convinces you of the position of the light in the room. So much is captured here - you see so much happening - but when you look at it, it is entirely in your mind. This is an entirely figurative image. 

The final image that I've chosen to reference is a young girl in a straw sun hat playing at the beach. The use of red as an energetic colour in the clothing is present again. The same thematic context of shrouded face is in play - and it's interesting that it works, this time in an entirely asexual context. It's delightful.

My final point is actually a little bit trivial. I love Andre Kohn's signature:

I just think it's very cool.

If you like this style of art, you won't be disappointed by following Andre Kohn.

Sharon Stone

The first of this week's artists is Sharon Stone.

No, not that Sharon Stone. This Sharon Stone resides in Southend on Sea, Essex, and produces an array of art in many different materials - with particular reference to depth and texture - and themes of other arts, including music and musicians.
Sharon is to be found on both Facebook and Twitter (I found her on the latter) where she displays an array of both portraiture and landscapes. The first pieces that I want to share with you are portraits of musical icons (who sadly are no longer with us):

 

It doesn't hurt that I love Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley - but actually taking on a beloved icon is quite risky because if you get it wrong you'll seriously upset your audience. Sharon (as far as my limited opinion goes) really succeeds by setting monochrome recognition against the flow of textured sheet music.
This seems to be a key for this artist - she doesn't deal in straight edges and clean lines. It is rough hewn and textured all the way. There is a sense of depth and touch.
Here we have one of Sharon's guitars. She has done a series of guitars (does she play?) They are set in the context of the style of the instrument (latin, jazz etc) and she has really done well here and i find these instruments appealing. I play guitar (much to the pain of my wife and children) and I would love to have a music room decorated with this imagery. It's evocative and lively and genuinely enjoyable.

The musical / guitarist theme continues with this atmospheric portrait:

This has a smokey yellow light and is full of beautiful soft edges. It also has appreciable detail, which does not shy away from the technical challenge of the instrument in use. I love the window providing depth and backlight at the rear of the picture. It is wonderful when art captures a moment and i think that is what makes this such a standout image. I think everyone who has played recognises this and it's so endearing.
I want to turn away from portraits toward's Sharon landscapes. The two that i have added here are wonderful. I like them because they 'feel' like landscapes - they have haze and temperature about them:

The final picture that I want to show is abstract:
This is a dirty nasty crime scene of a piece. It looks like it has superb forensic value! There is a seriously gory quality to this, like a shooting in a pub toilet.

I have really enjoyed this work. Absolutely all of it.

Carlos Lirola

Carlos Lirola is my now traditional last minute inclusion. His sweeping, over powering urban vistas and huge exercises in delivering artistic technical perspective is brilliant and amazing.

Carlos is on twitter here

In addition Carlos has a very impressive website here

Carlos has demonstrated his technical ability with infographics, animations and technical drawings and there is a relationship between these types of media and the way that his art is presented.

There is blog space on the website where Carlos has offered comments - but to my shame I can't speak Spanish so I'm afraid I can't really give you much of the benefit of that.

Carlos is based in Malaga but his work is genuinely international and looks at urban spaces from Europe and America. I have to say that I have visited Malaga twice and I found it quite an inspirational space with mixture of old and new architectural styles - some very traditional old spaces influenced by the church, and new clean modern lines. The incredible sun light also helped!

Let's have a look at Carlos' bridges:

The bridges are given to us in strange perspectives - perspectives that we would rarely consider. They give us both the beauty and the grotesque quality of their construction. There is both a sense of huge strength and also disrepair and vulnerability. He takes us up high to low down, he takes us right to the foot of the construction to look up - where we can feel tiny. There is a matter of fact technical quality that defies glamour and speaks about the blue collar roots of how these bridges were built - but then within that something that is undeniably awesome and therefore quite cinematic. It's like a presentation of a bridge as a piece of blue collar installation art.

Carlos has also painted a series of urban skyscapes - I use this image of New York as an example:

Looking across at Manhatten Island we have again a paradox between the undeniable glamour and excitement of the American highrise skyscraper and also the grimey, poluted quality of living in such a vast city. This is all very candid. The level of detail is incredible and it must take enormous patience to produce these works.

Now (above) we're looking down on a street. You could imagine this as a scene from the Bronxs or from Harlem - looking down into the city streets - that distinctive yellow cab a sign of where in the world you are. Perhaps the two limos suggest we are more upmarket in our neighbourhood - nevertheless the light gives us darkness and a slightly dirty, gritty quality.

Now we're in London in the underground (Charing Cross). I think this is my favourite actually. The film posters are amazing (is that a 'Pulp Fiction' poster?), the urban graffiti, you can feel the underground breeze caused by the vaccum of the moving vehicles - the smell of the vehicles - the noises... This is incredibly evocative.

So contrast these paintings with the following:

The European settings - these distinctly Spanish settings (Malaga above, Alcaniz below) give us a world much older and more traditional to art than the urban environments of New York or London. The presentation has obvious similarities that are particular to the artist - perspective of looking up at or through the architecture. There is the same fascination with structural angles, edges and archways.

I look at the colours in the lower images - the earthy quality of the stonework - which conveys such age and dignity in the buildings - and I reconsider my earlier comment about Charring Cross and think that this is my favourite instead.

Carlos Lirola is a marvellous artist who gives you something that you can sit and marvel at for a while. Take a bit of time and really enjoy. It's quite immersive and very enjoyable. It's also incredibly skillful.